Quantitative evaluation of induction motor broken bars by means of electrical signature analysis

The paper reports the comparison and performance evaluation of different diagnostic procedures that use input electric signals to detect and quantify rotor breakage in induction machines supplied by the mains. Besides the traditional current signature analysis based on one-phase current spectrum lines at frequencies around the fundamental, the procedures based on analysis of the line at frequency sf in the spectrum respectively of electromagnetic torque, space vector current modulus, and instantaneous power are considered. These last procedures have similar features and the comparison is developed on the basis of instantaneous torque. It is addressed that the speed ripple introduces two further terms in the instantaneous torque, decreasing the accuracy of the diagnosis. It is shown that there is a link between the angular displacement of the current sideband components at frequencies around the fundamental. This allows a more correct quantitative evaluation of the fault and shows the superiority of the sideband current components diagnostic procedure over the other proposed methods.